Modernizing a brand through red tape and takeovers

Art Direction - Hands on

The Summary

From 2018 to 2021, West Chester Protective Gear (WCPG) underwent a multi-year brand transformation — a journey shaped by changing leadership, evolving creative direction, and a major corporate acquisition.

At the time, WCPG wasn’t just a company — it was a retail-facing brand with a legacy in personal protective equipment. But its visual identity was lagging behind the growth of its products, people, and ambition.

What began as a quick refresh to modernize a few marketing materials gradually became a full-scale rebrand. Along the way, WCPG was acquired by Protective Industrial Products (PIP), positioning it to become the retail hub within a global PPE portfolio. That acquisition set the stage for a new name — PIP Retail Safety — and a more strategic brand architecture designed to compete in big box retail environments.

Understanding The Problem

In 2018, the WCPG brand felt outdated. The assets in circulation — packaging, catalogs, web pages — were inconsistent and behind the times visually. Design quality didn’t match the quality of the products, and it was becoming more and more difficult to make a strong impression in a crowded retail space.

Leadership recognized the need for a quick visual update — a refresh, not a rebrand — just enough to get by. But as new team members came in with stronger design skills and fresh perspectives, that “quick fix” quickly expanded. We realized that updating a few collateral pieces wouldn’t be enough. WCPG needed to evolve its brand to support its future — not just clean up its past.

Then, everything changed. In late 2018, Protective Industrial Products acquired WCPG as part of a larger vision to become the #1 provider of PPE worldwide. WCPG was repositioned as the retail engine of PIP, and with that shift came a new identity path: from legacy WCPG, to refreshed WCPG, and eventually to PIP Retail Safety.

My Role

As the brand shifted, so did my role. I led the creative team responsible for reimagining WCPG’s visual identity through every phase of its evolution.

That included:

  • Leading the design direction for the WCPG refresh across print, digital, packaging, and web.

  • Developing scalable templates and brand assets that could grow with the business.

  • Supporting the transition to PIP Retail Safety by creating new brand frameworks and internal tools.

  • Collaborating with leadership and cross-functional teams to align creative execution with business strategy throughout the acquisition.

This wasn’t just about a new logo or cleaner layouts — it was about building a system that could adapt as the company found its new identity within a larger organization.

The Process

The rebrand unfolded in three clear stages.

Stage 1: The Original WCPG (Pre-Refresh)
The brand was dated, fragmented, and lacked consistency. Assets were being created reactively with no real system in place. Design quality varied depending on who was working on what. It became harder to maintain brand integrity — or even define what the brand was.

Stage 2: The WCPG Refresh
This is where I stepped in. Our goal was to elevate the brand without completely blowing it up. We refined the color palette, modernized typography, and created new layout systems. We rebuilt collateral from the ground up — catalogs, sell sheets, packaging, and digital assets — all with a unified look and tone. We began overhauling photography to feel more relatable and grounded in real-world use.

Internally, we created a flexible design system and brand guide to help our team scale the refreshed identity across departments. This middle stage became the foundation of what was to come.

Stage 3: Transition to PIP Retail Safety
As corporate architecture evolved, WCPG as a brand began to phase out. The company was renamed PIP Retail Safety, and we were tasked with creating a new identity that would live within the PIP ecosystem but stand out as its retail powerhouse.

We took the most successful elements of the WCPG refresh and evolved them into something cleaner, stronger, and more strategically aligned with the broader PIP brand. This wasn’t just a name change — it was a shift in audience, positioning, and purpose.

The Solution

The final result was a layered brand evolution that reflected both internal growth and external strategy.

The refreshed WCPG identity gave the brand a more credible, modern look — with strong layout systems, cleaner packaging, and cohesive collateral that could hold its own in the retail space. It helped the team build momentum and create consistency during a time of organizational change.

The transition to PIP Retail Safety allowed us to elevate that momentum and roll it into a stronger, more intentional brand system. We developed new assets, updated our photography library, aligned tone of voice across channels, and built scalable systems that worked for retail buyers and end consumers alike.

We made it easier for internal teams to produce materials quickly and on-brand. And we helped define what a retail-first division of PIP could look like — from digital to in-store.

MISCELLANEOUS Work on WCPG

Results & Impact

The refreshed WCPG brand laid the creative foundation for everything that followed. It gave the team the visual tools and confidence to start showing up differently — and better — across retail, trade shows, and digital platforms.

By the time we transitioned to PIP Retail Safety, we had a full creative system in place that was faster, cleaner, and more compelling. That consistency helped internal teams move quickly, and it made a real difference in how the brand was perceived externally — from retail buyers to end users.

PIP Retail Safety is no longer the brand on the shelf — it’s the company behind the brands on the shelf. As the retail engine of Protective Industrial Products, it delivers trusted, high-quality PPE brands to major retailers nationwide. What began as West Chester Protective Gear has grown into the force that brings leading safety solutions to consumers and pros alike.